Celso L. Ladera; Eduardo Alomá; Pilar León
Description:
The Virial Theorem is receiving scarce attention in the teaching of classical mechanics, and intermediate mechanics and in general physics courses. In this work we present a proposal for including this theorem in the contents of Gravitation or Kinetic Theory of Gases in general physics courses, and we illustrate the importance of the theorem with a sample set of applications in mechanics, introductory quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and astrophysics. Two relevant cases, the applications of the theorem to the presence of the so-called dark matter in the Universe, and to the study of the stability condition of the driven inverted pendulum are presented.